The Nuggets and the 76ers played in the season opener. However these two teams have been polar opposites since that meeting. The Nuggets looked like they were bound to miss the playoffs and the 76ers looked like they could have been a playoff bound team. Now the Nuggets are seeking the third seed in their conference and the 76ers are staring down the lottery.
Ty Lawson and Jrue Holiday were drafted in the same draft with Holiday being selected a couple of picks ahead of Lawson, but they have had pretty even careers. Holiday has taken over for the 76ers scoring 18.9 points and 8.2 assists. He is now the dominant ball handler since Andre Iguodala's departure. In the first game Lawson shot poorly from the field and scored 16 points and had 7 assists. Lawson has improved since this first matchup and has become one of the top point guards because of his recent play.
In Iguodala's first matchup against his old team, he shot poorly from the field, 5-13, and only scored 11 points to go along with 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Look for him to play better in this matchup because he has now found his niche with the Nuggets which is scary for any team that plays them. Jason Richardson was starting in the first matchup, but Royal Ivey is now the starter. Iggy should not have to worry much about him defensively which means he should guard Holiday and switch Lawson onto Ivey.
Gallo missed the first game and Jordan Hamilton took his place in the starting lineup. Evan Turner is not much of a shooter and only had 5 points in the first matchup. Turner is a threat in other areas and could have a triple double any night. Turner plays good defense so Gallo will have a tough time scoring.
Faried did not play well in the first matchup, only scoring 6 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. He only played 17 minutes. Thaddeus Young is still the starter and he is dangerous because he has a decent outside shot and he is a very good rebounder. In the first matchup, he had 13 and 5 which Faried should try to hold him to again.
Koufos was battling Lavoy Allen in the first matchup, but Spencer Hawes is now the starting center. Hawes had a great first game notching 16 points and 12 rebounds, but it will be interesting to how he responds starting against the Nuggets since he came off of the bench in the first matchup.
The 76ers bench is not as good since Spencer Hawes is no longer coming off of it, but they still have some quality players on their bench. Dorrell Wright is a good shooter off of the bench for them. Every time I write a preview I rave about the Nuggets bench and they rarely dont deserve the rave, but it will be interesting to see how they respond to not having Wilson Chandler. I think they will respond by giving Brewer more minutes, but they my try to throw Hamilton or Fournier into the rotation.
I think the Nuggets will win this one easily as they extend their winning streak to 14.
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